On March 7, 2014, TimeZone joined a small group of online and print media representatives for a special tour of Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, hosted by Breguet, a major sponsor of the exhibition. Among our hosts were Charlotte Vignon, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, and Michael Nelson, Breguet U.S. Brand Manager. After just over a year, and at least one extension, the exhibit is drawing to a close.

Installation view, looking west at Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, now on view in the Portico Gallery of The Frick Collection, New York; photo: Michael Bodycomb

Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) was an industrialist, philanthropist, and art collector. He collected one of the greatest privately held art collections in existence. On his death, he left his home on 71st Street just off Fifth Avenue and Central Park in New York and his collection of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts to the public "for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a gallery of art, [and] of encouraging and developing the study of fine arts and of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects." The Frick Collection contains an amazing collection of works of by masters such as Renoir, Monet, Manet, Goya, El Greco, Turner, and Whistler, as well as French eighteenth-century furniture, Italian Renaissance bronzes, and Limoges enamels.

Winthrop Kellogg Edey (1937-1999), came from a wealthy family and developed a passion for, among other things, horology, Egyptology, and photography. From the age of 12, he collected timepieces, and perhaps most amazingly, kept detailed journals of his acquisitions. Over a period of close to five decades, he acquired, sold, and traded clocks and watches, until he finally held a small, but amazing collection of timepieces from 1500 to 1830. He consulted for, among others, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; and The Time Museum, Rockford, IL. He was the author of two books on French clocks. On his death, he left his collection to the Frick, giving the Collection an exceptionally impressive set of privately owned timepieces.

During our tour, Charlotte discussed the evolution of timepieces from the Renaissance. The oldest clock in the collection dates from 1530 Aix-en-Provence, and was made by Pierre de Fobis.

A later example, a true "masterpiece" signed by the master clock maker David Weber and made in approximately 1653, shows the highly decorative style popular in that period. The tower has two tiers and is almost two feet tall. It is topped by a female figure representing the Roman goddess Fortuna.

The Edey collection contains three amazing examples of the work of Abraham-Louis Breguet and his son, Antoine-Louis Breguet. One of the most unique pieces is a "decimal clock", dating to the French Revolution. This piece shows decimal time, which was decreed in 1793 and lasted 18 months, on one side and a standard 12 hour clock on the reverse. Decimal time divided time units into 10ths; a 10 hour day, 10 minutes in an hour, etc.

And, an amazing video showing the clock in action, from the Frick Collection.

Important watches and a carriage clock by Breguet, in Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, now on view in the Portico Gallery of The Frick Collection, New York; photo: Michael Bodycomb

All in all, an amazing opportunity to see an incredible collection, and thanks to Breguet and the Frick Collection, especially Michael Nelson of Breguet and Charlotte Vignon of the Frick for the opportunity to see this special exhibit and share it with the TimeZone community.

Installation view, looking east at Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, now on view in the Portico Gallery of The Frick Collection, New York; photo: Michael Bodycomb